So today is May 1st! May Day in Vienna! No classes, parades, everyone outside tanning, 80-degree weather, bands playing, and surely some fireworks later tonight!
I actually just got back from relaxing by the Danube river. Read, went swimming and got rather sunburnt......SO now I'm back home. I'm seeking refuge from the sun, and planning on going to go practice in a bit...(recital tomorrow?!) But while I wait for my water to boil, I might as well recount my most recent weekend adventure!
This past weekend I went on another IES-organized field-trip. This time to Austria's Bundesland: Die Steiermark. Its capital is Graz, which is Austria's second largest city, next to Vienna. But compared to Vienna's 2.7 million residents, Graz has 300,000....it's also very much a "college town", has a much younger population and more modern buzz. I loved Graz!
But lets not get ahead of ourselves. Before our bus made it to Graz, we stopped in Stübing to visit Austria's open-air museum. The concept of an open-air musuem (started by the Scandinavians I believe?) is that historical and traditional homes/buildings and such from the country are taken and put in one walkable plot. So in Austria's open-air museum, we were able to "walk" through all 9 regions and look at original houses, grain mills, you name it. (in a much shorter time obviously than it would take to ACTUALLY walk through all the Bundesländer of Austria.) It was really, really cool actually.
After a few hours here, we had an incredibly filling lunch of Schnitzel! And were off to Graz.. We went on a walking tour of the city, and then later that night after dinner, a few of us returned back to climb up to the clock tower! (Uhr Turm). Great view of the city. The tower is on top of a rocky hill where a large impenetrable fortress (that even kept out Napoleon!) once stood. Very cool.
So that was Saturday! On Sunday, we visited the Schloss Eggenberg. (Schloss = Castle!!!) The castle was so beautiful, with rooms and art that took my breath away. There were rooms where Maria Theresia and Marie Antoniette had once stayed, the grounds had peacocks!!, and the weather was perfect. Excellent morning.
We had a tour of the castle, and then were free to wander the grounds after. We actually found a Kinderspielplatz (playground) and entertained ourselves there for a while, haha. What a beautiful castle! Wouldn't mind living there.....
After our visit to Schloss Eggenberg, we ended the day at a Thermal Spa on our way back to Vienna. I went down my first water slide and enjoyed yet AnOtHeR spectacular Eiskaffee in a water bar! (No pics, cause I didn't want to get my camera wet!)
FABULOUS weekend.
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